Project Overview

The sales centre for Mirvac’s new residential community, The Village Menangle, is an old 1920s built workers cottage located within the site.
The intent of the sales centre for The Village was to achieve a high-quality design outcome that complements the natural landscape and rural village character of Menangle.
Challenges needed to be overcome in order to achieve this brief, such as the dilapidated condition of the cottage that lacked structural integrity and posed a health and safety risk and managing the heritage significance.
In addition, the internal layout of the cottage was not ideal for use as a sales centre due to the multiple small rooms and narrow entry hallway.
Prefabrication construction techniques were used to reconstruct the cottage, the existing brick chimneys were retained and The Village Menangle’s branding colours were incorporated, creating a cohesive sales experience that welcomes people to Mirvac’s new community in one of the Macarthur Area’s hidden gems.

Organisation

Mirvac Design

 

Team

Aaron Baker - Senior Development Manager
Vanessa West - Assistant Development Manager
Natasha Ryko - National Marketing Director
Kathy Arici - National Sales Director
Natalie Reilly - Project Marketing Manager

Project Brief

Set within the historic township of Menangle, where sleepy rural charm meets modern family life, is Mirvac's new residential community, The Village Menangle.
The brief was to adapt the old 1920s built workers cottage located within the site for use as the sales centre for the Menangle development.
The intent of the sales centre for The Village was to achieve a high-quality design outcome that complements the natural landscape and rural village character of Menangle, a township whose rich history dates back to the pioneering Macarthur family.
Externally, two original brick chimneys from the cottage were preserved, however the rest of the cottage was so dilapidated that it needed to be replaced with like for like materials.
Internally, the heritage elements of the cottage such as the beautiful fireplaces, along with the branding for the project needed to be seamlessly integrated with current selling tools in order to create a modern approach to selling Mirvac’s new community.
Overall, heritage has played an important role in the approach to the Menangle sales centre ensuring the historical character from the past continues to remain intact today.

Project Innovation/Need

The project need was to adapt the old 1920s built workers cottage located within the site for use as the sales centre for the Menangle development.
Following intensive investigation into the structural integrity of the existing dwelling, the decision was made to rebuild the cottage using new materials yet maintaining a design aesthetic that is not only sympathetic to the heritage area, but reflects the architectural style and materiality of the original structure.
Innovation in this project was the construction methodology in how the cottage was de-constructed and then re-constructed into a sales office, successfully integrating parts of the existing structure with the new prefabricated wall and floor systems.
After carefully stabilising the existing dilapidated chimneys, de-construction commenced with salvaging original materials and building elements so that they could be both repaired, restored or recreated.
The angled ceiling lines, internal timber wall lining and exterior finish colours match that of the original design. The repaired existing brick chimneys are a significant feature in the sales centre fit out and will remain as a functional element in the future conversion back to a home.

Design Challenge

The main design challenge was retaining the heritage elements of the cottage when it was in such disrepair and needed to be almost completely rebuilt. In its current state, the building was not suitable to be used as the intended purpose, the sales centre for Mirvac’s new residential community, The Village Menangle.
The issues with structural integrity caused by the dilapidated condition of the cottage were overcome by salvaging original building elements and rebuilding it using prefabricated construction, yet maintaining the character and design aesthetic (such as the splayed ceilings, timber wall cladding and fireplaces) that is not only sympathetic to the heritage area but reflects the architectural style of the original cottage.
The existing internal layout of the cottage was not ideal for use as a sales centre. There were multiple small rooms, a narrow entry hallway and the amenities did not comply with current accessibility or fire safety requirements. Challenges arose with existing heritage elements being retained, such as the windows and brick chimneys, that needed to be incorporated into the internal sales fitout.
This challenge was overcome by the team at Divaworks, led by their founder Fiona Jefferies, celebrating these heritage elements and making them visible from every aspect of the internal space by omitting any non-structural internal walls from the final fitout.
The Village Menangle’s branding colours, chosen as a reflection of both the landscape and Menangle’s semi-rural Australian history, blend perfectly with the faithfully restored cottage creating a cohesive sales experience for Mirvac’s new community.

Sustainability

Although the cottage is not a listed heritage item, it was determined through the development application phase of the subdivision that the cottage had historic significance to the area.
The initial plan was to restore the worker’s cottage, thereby salvaging much of the original materials and repairing the cottage where necessary. However, if became evident that due to the poor structural integrity of the cottage, the potential safety risk of the construction team working on it and the hazardous materials/finishes it contained (asbestos, lead paint, etc), a decision had to be made to deconstruct the cottage, salvaging any building elements for possible re-use.
With sustainability in mind, prefabricated construction techniques were used to enable HSE&S benefits such as a reduction in waste and carbon, reducing the safety risks posed on the construction team, decreased construction programs and therefore costs, as well as providing a better quality product overall, as the workmanship is quality controlled in a factory.
To be sustainable a building must be able to evolve with the changing needs of the occupants. Constructing a new building rather than repairing the original cottage provided not only HSE&S benefits as mentioned above, but also enabled the project team to ensure a functional, adaptable accessible and compliant space for all who visit The Village Sales Centre.